What is a pre-blog ? Well, in this case it looks a bit like a blog, it has content very similar to a blog but it isn't a blog... yet! In a few months I'd like to be publishing a fully-formed, all singing and all dancing blog. In the meantime you are going to have to make do with this pre-blog...

Since the pre-blog was born I have written and/or updated 23 essays. Some are shorter than others and some are more opinionated than others but I hope that they have all made an impact on at least one reader - each! I thought that I'd do a quick round up of them to save readers the bother of trawling through the whole site to find them!

Getting used to new equipment is something that I both love and hate in equal proportions. My Elinchrom Ranger Quadra kit has now become part of my day-to-day kit but I have to work without the option of a soft box for a while whilst waiting for someone to produce either a speed ring or an adapter that makes sense both practically and economically. I was looking through some old accessories trying to see if I could cobble something together when I found an old Photoflex speed ring.

I suspect that most professional photographers keep a pool of pictures that they use for promotional, exhibition and portfolio purposes. I have always had a folder full of my favourites and now that I am freelance one of my regular tasks is to update it. The death this week of Mr Henry Allingham who was, at the age of 113, the oldest surviving veteran of the First World War made me go through and think about some of the people that I have had the honour of meeting and photographing.

I'm going to be teaching a location lighting course with Photofusion. It's a one day course, limited to eight people and I will be covering some basic thought processes, talking about keeping the brief right at the front of your thoughts and working out exactly how to use several key techniques to make the kind of people photos on location that this website talks about.

Their own website says the following about Photofusion:

Photofusion is London's largest independent photography resource centre. We offer a wide range of work and services, providing access to a full range of facilities including contemporary gallery space, darkrooms, studio, digital imaging training, picture library, agency and ongoing photo-art education programme for professional, student and amateur photographers. Situated in the vibrant heart of Brixton, Photofusion's photo-digital facilities continue to draw visitors into an exciting and rapidly changing area. As Brixton's most prestigious gallery space, our exhibitions alone are expected this year to attract 30,000 visitors.

16.07.2009 | 10:35 BST | Go and see the Press Photographers' Year exhibition

On Monday the Press Photographers' Year exhibition officially opened at the Royal National Theatre in London. There was a short prize giving in the Lyttleton Theatre and then we all had a chance to look at the show on the walls of the Lyttleton Foyer. The work is of the highest quality and the variety of styles and genres on the walls is amazing. If you live in London, can easily get to London or are going to be passing through Monday to Saturday between now and the end of August I would advise you to make time and go and see the exhibition. I have been around the show three times now and my favourites change each time. Watch out for Abbie Trayler-Smith's winning multimedia entry and the rolling slide show of the 2008 Olympic images.

One by one I have been resurrecting and re-writing some of the opinion pieces that I wrote on the original dg28 site between 2000 and 2007. Looking back through the list a piece about slang terms for photographers caught my eye and so I thought that I'd dust it off, spell check it and give it a 2009 outing. The sad thing is that nothing much has changed...